The origin of giant dielectric relaxation behavior and related electrical properties of grains and grain boundaries (GBs) of W6+-doped CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics were studied using admittance and impedance spectroscopy analyses based on the brick–work layer model. Substitution of 1.0 at. % W6+ caused a slight decrease in GB capacitance, leading to a small decrease in the low-frequency dielectric constant. Surprisingly, W6+ doping ions have remarkable effects on the macroscopic dielectric relaxation and electrical properties of grains. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis suggested that the large enhancements of grain resistance and conduction activation energy of grains for the W6+-doped CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramic are caused by reductions in concentrations of Cu3+ and Ti3+ ions. Considering variation of dielectric properties together with changes in electrical properties of the W6+-doped CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramic, correlation between giant dielectric properties and electrical responses of grains and GBs can be described well by the internal barrier layer capacitor model. This model can ascribe mechanisms related to giant dielectric response and relaxation behavior in CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics.

Giant dielectric permittivity (Li, Ti)-doped NiO (LTNO) ceramics are prepared by a simple PVA sol–gel method. The dielectric properties are investigated as a function of frequency (102–106 Hz) at different temperatures (233–473 K). The concentration of Li has a remarkable effect on the dielectric properties of the LTNO ceramics. The modified Cole–Cole equation, including the conductivity term, is used to describe the experimental dielectric spectra of a high permittivity response with excellent agreement over a wide range of frequencies (103–106 Hz) and temperatures (233–313 K). A frequency dielectric dispersion phenomenon in an LTNO ceramic is also analyzed by impedance spectroscopy. A separation of the grain and grain boundary properties is achieved using an equivalent circuit model. The grain and grain boundary conduction and the dielectric relaxation time of the Li0.05Ti0.02Ni0.93O follows the Arrhenius law associated with estimated activation energies of 0.216, 0.369 and 0.391 eV, respectively. Through the analysis by the modified relaxation model and impedance spectroscopy, it is strongly believed that the high dielectric permittivity response of the LTNO is not only contributed by the space charge polarization (Maxwell–Wagner polarization) mechanism at low frequency regions, but also by the defect-dipole polarization mechanism at high frequency regions.

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Single-phase multiferroic BiFeO3 ceramics were fabricated using pure precipitation-prepared BiFeO3 powder. Dielectric response of BiFeO3 ceramics was investigated over a wide range of temperature and frequency. Our results reveal that the BiFeO3 ceramic sintered at 700 °C exhibited high dielectric permittivity, and three dielectric relaxations were observed. A Debye-type dielectric relaxation at low temperatures (−50 to 20 °C) is attributed to the carrier hopping process between Fe2+ and Fe3+. The other two dielectric relaxations at the temperature ranges 30–130 °C and 140–200 °C could be due to the grain boundary effect and the defect ordering and/or the conductivity, respectively.

Three different plastic films of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) were perforated using Nd‐YAG laser. Effects of laser pulse energy were examined by varying energies from 50 to 250 mJ where the pulse duration and pulse repetition were kept constant at 10 ns and 1 Hz, respectively. It was found that perforation diameters of all films increased with increasing pulse energies. Observed perforations were different among the three film types. Explanation was contributed to material inherent property and its interaction with laser. Incorporation of an inorganic filler (i.e. silica based anti‐blocking agent used in packaging film) of 0.5 wt% into the LDPE films (0.5Si‐LDPE) could improve perforation performance for LDPE. This was attributed to an increased thermal diffusivity of the 0.5Si‐LDPE film. Commercial BOPET and BOPP films containing 97 microholes/m2 (hole diameter of ~100 µm) showed an improvement in oxygen transmission rates (OTR) of 18 and 5 times that of the neat films without perforation. In the case of perforated 0.5Si‐LDPE films having similar perforations of 97 microholes/m2 and perforation diameter of 100 µm, a two‐fold increase of OTR was obtained. Gas transmission rates of the microperforated films were measured based on the static method. Measured OTR and CO2TR values of the three films with varying perforation diameters in a range of ~40–300 µm were compared and discussed. Overall results clearly indicate that perforation by laser is an effective process in developing breathable films with tailored oxygen transmission property for fresh produce packaging. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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